Expanding Social Media in Local Government

In this digital age that we live in technology and trends are constantly changing and expanding. Failure to recognize this can certainly become an issue for any organization that relies on a functioning and progressive relationship with the public. Arguably the most revolutionary form of communication and connection within the last ten years plus has been social media. Social media has given people the ability to spread information quickly as well as receive direct feedback. This aspect alone is particularly useful when it comes to local government.

Local government, public sector, city workers; whatever you want to call it often we don't think about these people unless we have a problem or when we pay our taxes. In reality though there are numerous departments that exist within a municipality and they function with the purpose of maintaining stability while also improving the social and economic growth of that location. If successful the work done by these people will hopefully be beneficial for those that live and work within that municipality. However, getting interest from residents and interacting with them is not always so easy in the fast-paced world we live in today. Finding ways to connect and communicate with the residents that they serve is an important thing for local government officials. With social media officials can notify and interact with the public through a variety of ways.

Public service announcements, city council meeting times, and emergency notifications are just a few of the vital pieces of information that can be readily told through social media. Another use of social media in local government that has been very productive and useful is its use in police departments. This use pertains to crime prevention and local assistance for solving crimes. We as a society show much more information publicly today than ever before due to our infatuation with social media. Police are aware of this and have been able to gather information on suspects because of their online presence. Police are also able to interact with the public by getting "tips" on crime details or on crimes that may happen. By police departments setting up a presence online through social media they have been able to better humanize themselves to the public while keeping their community safe.

For the most part the use of social media by local government has been seen as positive and by today's standards highly necessary. It helps to bring awareness to events and important notifications for local residents. It can also help promote local businesses and share stories that bolster a community's image. Residents can feel more connected to the municipality they live in which will hopefully lead to greater community involvement. Even with all the signs pointing towards to the necessity of a social media presence for local governments it is still up to how well it is maintained and how residents respond.

Success starts with local officials maintaining their various platforms of social media constantly so that information is current and reliable. It is also important to know that the trouble with social media is that it is constantly changing and the preferred platform one day might be different the next. Keeping a level of awareness to these trends is not always the first priority for local officials as most still have their actual job to preform while also maintaining their departments Facebook or Twitter. Social media in one municipality could be more successful than in another. Whether this is due to quality or demographics of that community sometimes the response from residents can be hit or miss. This only shows that for social media in local government it may have to be a process to figure out what works in order to attract the most attention and feedback.